“This is both the weirdest book I have ever written, the most unrealistic in the conventional sense, but also the most personal. On one level it is a strange science-fiction story but on another it is the most emotionally honest I have ever dared myself to be. It is set on the Spanish island of Ibiza, which is far more mysterious and beautiful than its image as a party destination suggests.”
“Absolutely not. I think it was partly about timing. It came out early in the pandemic, just when everyone was having a collective existential crisis. It is also about the twentieth book I have written, so you learn along the way to not anticipate reactions, as that is the way to lose your sanity and creativity.”
“I don’t know. When something interests you the question you have in your head is ‘Why isn’t this fascinating to everyone?’ Time is everything. Our obsession with aging and anti-aging. Grief. Nostalgia. History. Heartbreak. It all relates to time.”
“I never really know. There have been too many. But the short stories of Jorge Luis Borges are probably the most inspiring on a creative level.”
“The House at Pooh Corner. I love Winnie-the-Pooh. It manages to be simple and deep and universal and funny and serious all at once.”